Sermon

Denying The Lord (The Last Week of Jesus, Part 13) - Frank Brancato

Church of Christ - Bakersfield, Ca

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  1. Of all the things that Jesus could have said to them of all

  2. the things that he could warn them about as he's nearing the

  3. cross. He chooses to bring up the fact

  4. that they will all defect, they will all desert him, they will

  5. all turn their back on Jesus and if the disciples are to carry

  6. out the message to the world, they're going to have to be

  7. strong as I mentioned. Just a moment ago, though.

  8. The very first step in understanding strength is to

  9. First understand weakness. The lesson of weakness is first

  10. thing that we have to learn and I think that's what he's

  11. teaching here. It's A lesson that we all have

  12. to learn as well in our life, you know.

  13. I think it's important that we realize that sometimes sometimes

  14. we rely on our own strength and because of that we think we can

  15. handle whatever comes our way. And may I just say this if you

  16. are failing day by day if you are weak spiritually, if you are

  17. struggling day by day, I'm going to say it.

  18. Be at the very outset of this lesson.

  19. It is because you were trying to handle all of those things.

  20. By way of your own strength. And if you do, and that is you,

  21. you are failing miserably every day.

  22. We all fall into that category, if that's our motive, if that's

  23. the way that we do it. If that's the way we handle it,

  24. we are going to fail in the passage that is before us

  25. though, we find that these are things that are spoken to the

  26. Disciples of Jesus Christ. And they thought they thought

  27. they were going to do the right thing after all.

  28. They all said, I'll never leave you.

  29. We're going to get into specifically.

  30. Lee the words that were used by Peter and the other Apostles

  31. also. But just remember this what they

  32. said was wrong. You remember, what happened in

  33. the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, I'm not going to go into

  34. that, I'm not gonna actually, I'm just going to make a point

  35. about it, and I've decided to skip the Garden of Gethsemane in

  36. the last week, in the life of Jesus in our series.

  37. Because I preached on that, I think at least three times,

  38. right here over the years. And I didn't want this series to

  39. be just Just a re canting of things that I've already taught

  40. or studied, so it's a good. It's a very good possibility

  41. that we go from here to win. He's arrested.

  42. All right, all that being said remember in the Garden of

  43. Gethsemane. Jesus goes and he prays and they

  44. slept notice what happened. They said here, I'll never leave

  45. your side. But we know exactly what

  46. happened. Jesus comes out forward and the

  47. betrayer is out in front, it's Judas, we know what happens.

  48. Then, do you remember, what Jesus said, he was protecting

  49. these men, that said, they would never leave his side.

  50. And Jesus said, who are you looking for?

  51. And they said, Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus said, I am

  52. he, by the way, the word, he's not in the original, you know.

  53. He said, I am, it's always been. I am, And you know what

  54. happened? They fell down unfazed by that

  55. they get back up, Jesus says again really quickly.

  56. Now he said, who are you looking for?

  57. They said Jesus of Nazareth. He said I am he let these go.

  58. So I said all of that to say that he protected the disciples,

  59. he said let them go but that's not what happened.

  60. They didn't stand firm. In fact in Matthew 26 and 56.

  61. The last sentence of the verse says this then all the disciples

  62. for Took him and fled, when it came down to the moment of

  63. trial, they all fled. Now Matthews intent here.

  64. I do believe is to preserve the Majesty of Jesus Christ.

  65. What do we mean by that? I love this John, and you've

  66. heard me say this over the years, many times in the Gospel

  67. of John, John Paints the picture, or describes Jesus, in

  68. deity, the deity of Christ emphasizes.

  69. The deity of Christ, Matthew emphasizes, the Majesty of

  70. Christ. What do I mean by that?

  71. What I mean is the kingship of Christ.

  72. So in other words, Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is the

  73. king and John emphasizes that Jesus is God, God, God, the son,

  74. the deity of Christ. And I think we're going to find

  75. what Matthew is doing here, showing the magnificence in the

  76. Majesty of Jesus. I think we're going to see that

  77. as we move through. So, in verse 30, right before

  78. this, it says, when they had sung A Hymn, they went out to

  79. the Mount of Olives. Now they're gathered together in

  80. these Final hours, one more time and in verse 31, Jesus launches

  81. into this confrontation of weakness, this lesson about out

  82. weakness. And you know, in all of this I

  83. think we find a tremendous contrast between Jesus Christ

  84. and the 11 and that preserves his majesty and I think you'll

  85. see that moving forward. First thing we want to notice.

  86. First of all, there's a tremendous contrast between

  87. knowledge and ignorance. And I'm talking about the Lord's

  88. knowledge and the disciples ignorance, in fact, the

  89. Disciples of the ones that were woefully ignorant briefly.

  90. Going through this. Look at verse 33.

  91. Even if all are made to stumble because of you I will never be

  92. made to stumble. Ignorant, you know what

  93. happened? Just a few hours later, he

  94. exactly did that. He did the very thing that he

  95. said, he would not do verse 35, even if I have to die with you.

  96. I will not deny you that's another ignorant statement.

  97. You know why? Because he would do just that he

  98. would deny the Lord, he would not do what he said.

  99. He couldn't affirm that, he was ignorant in that and you know

  100. what? He wasn't alone because look at

  101. the end of verse 35 and so said all the disciples Now why were

  102. they ignorant? And what was their ignorance?

  103. Here it is. Here's the disciples ignorance.

  104. They were ignorant about many things.

  105. Number one, they were ignorant of their own weaknesses.

  106. Number two, they were ignorant of the strength of Satan number

  107. three. They were ignorant of the tests

  108. that they would have to face. Now, hold that thought we're

  109. going to get, we're going to go further, but just look at this

  110. and apply this to your life at any Rebel that you might have if

  111. you're struggling, just perhaps? It's because you are ignorant of

  112. your own weaknesses. Number two, you're ignorant of

  113. how powerful Satan is. I'm going to tell you the devil

  114. is alive. And well, he's a roaring lion

  115. and he's trying to get us, he's trying to get our kids, trying

  116. to get our families, he's doing everything he can.

  117. So when I struggle, it's because I am ignorant of the strength of

  118. Satan number three. I'm also ignorant of the tests

  119. that I might have to face in my life and don't misunderstand me.

  120. This does not mean that God is testing us.

  121. He's not doing that. God is our refuge.

  122. The test comes from the Devil, the Temptation comes from Satan.

  123. If I want to be successful, I need to understand my

  124. weaknesses. I need to understand the

  125. strength of Satan. I need to understand the trials

  126. that I would have to face the hard things, I would have to

  127. face in advance, all right? All that being said, this also

  128. applied to the 11, but there's more.

  129. And here's the point, they were the most ignorant because they

  130. were ignorant of the Old Testament prophecy on this very

  131. thing. They were ignorant of the Old

  132. Testament prophecy. This goes back to verse 31, look

  133. at this passage, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of

  134. the flock will be scattered. So their ignorance is obvious,

  135. but over against their ignorance is the knowledge of Jesus Christ

  136. that he had. It's another time for teaching

  137. and instruction and the lesson is about foolishness in

  138. self-sufficiency. Here's exactly what he said.

  139. Jesus said, all of you. Ooh, here's the flip side.

  140. He knew this the opposite of ignorance.

  141. All of you would be made to stumble.

  142. Because of me this night for it is written, I will strike the

  143. shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but

  144. after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee now.

  145. Then he said this assuredly, I say to you that this night

  146. before the rooster crows You will deny me three times, that's

  147. perfect. Knowledge of God's plan, and

  148. Jesus knew it all. And it focuses basically on

  149. verse 31, from an Old Testament prophecy found in Zechariah,

    Zechariah 13 chapter mention

  150. Chapter 13 and verse 7. Notice I will strike the

  151. shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

  152. Now, Jesus not only knew what Judas was going to do member,

  153. What Judas member Judas Jesus says whatsoever, thou doest do

  154. quickly. He knew exactly what he was

  155. going to do. It was prophesied.

  156. That Judas would do that, that he would lift up his heel

  157. against him. Jesus said prophetically, it

  158. would be mine only for my familiar friend.

  159. And he knew that, secondly, he knew exactly what the religious

  160. leaders were going to do. He knew that, too, he knew what

  161. the Roman soldiers were going to do.

  162. He knew that too, but there's something else.

  163. He knew exactly what the 11 were going to do.

  164. Also And that's because of Zechariah, 13 and 7.

  165. Do you see what he's saying here?

  166. And by the way, this is a Messianic prophecy.

  167. And what you can do is you can go to commentators on Zechariah

  168. 13 and 7 and there are all manner of interpretations.

  169. But I'm going to tell you it's Messianic and it makes a whole

  170. lot of sense. Notice who is I I is God.

  171. In fact, it says this in Zechariah 13.

  172. I will Smite or strike my shepherd.

  173. Who's that as Jesus Christ? Look, it was prophesied.

  174. God said, I will strike my shepherd that Jesus and the

  175. sheep of the flock. That's you.

  176. The 11 will be scattered. He knew.

  177. The future. Because he knew the past.

  178. Secondly, we see a contrast between courage and cowardice.

  179. Now There's a difference between cowardice.

  180. And fear. There's a difference.

  181. Because cowardice is the acting. Based on fear.

  182. It is the action. And just because a person has

  183. courage, doesn't mean they don't have fear.

  184. In fact you cannot have courage with where there is no fear.

  185. So what you find is a contrast between Jesus and the disciples

  186. Jesus is Ultimate courage and their ultimate cowardice.

  187. I wanted to make that point though, about fear Because

  188. notice in verse 31, Jesus said all of you will be made to

  189. stumble. Because of me this night, you

  190. want to know what this word stumble means.

  191. It's the same word. It comes from a Greek word, is

  192. the same word. That's translated.

  193. Trap or snare, you know what it means?

  194. It means it is a trap or it's a snare that is so great.

  195. You cannot get out of it. Let that sink in for just a

  196. minute. He's telling them that on this

  197. night, you're going to fall into a trap or snare that you cannot

  198. get out of All right, you know what, I love, I love it when the

  199. word of God tells us exactly what the answers are, okay?

  200. What's the snare? What is it?

  201. We can turn to the word of God and we can find out.

  202. What is the snare? What is the Trap?

  203. Here it is. Here's the Trap and it's found

  204. in Proverbs 29 and 25, the fear of man brings a snare.

  205. What's the Trap? It's fear.

  206. You see, fear is not the problem.

  207. Fear is when fear wins the battle over faith.

  208. And when that happens, then, that is cowardice, and that's

  209. what they did. What's the flip side in this

  210. beautiful? The flip side of fear, the flip

  211. side of fear being the Trap is, what trusting in the Lord.

  212. It says, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

  213. I'm going to tell you that's what they didn't do.

  214. They didn't trust in the Lord. So if you are, I've known a lot

  215. of people that are really driven by fear and it's very sad for

  216. me. When I see people that are

  217. really driven by fear. Do you know what happens when

  218. you're driven by fear in your life?

  219. It's because you're not trusting in what you should trust in.

  220. And that's a fact, you are not trusting in the Lord that you'll

  221. be safe. When you trust in the Lord, it

  222. brings fear and gets rid of fear, takes it out.

  223. Jesus said you're going to fall into a trap.

  224. That trap is feared. They were afraid.

  225. They were afraid, but the Romans were going to do.

  226. They were afraid of what the Jews were going to do.

  227. Do you remember in the, oh, I don't know.

  228. In the last several days I guess of the Lord's Ministry.

  229. He did many wonderful things and even going back to John chapter

    John 9 chapter mention

  230. 9 when Jesus healed. The man that was born blind when

  231. they went to the parents and they asked the parents.

  232. Is this your son? Was he born?

  233. Blind? How come he can see all that?

  234. We all know the story, remember what they said they said.

  235. Yes, this is our son. Yes, he was born blind but Then

  236. they said, but as to why he is able to see, you'll have to ask

  237. him and then it said and this they said for fear of the Jews,

  238. right? How many times did it say for?

  239. They said this for fear of the Jews, do you know why?

  240. Very simply because the Jews meaning the religious leaders

  241. had already said that. If anyone was going to confess

  242. that Jesus was the Christ, they be cast out of the synagogue.

  243. Oh, there was all kinds of We're absolutely.

  244. They were afraid of what the Romans might do.

  245. They were afraid of what the Jews might do.

  246. They were afraid of it all and you know what happens in verse

  247. 55. When they saw the soldiers

  248. coming with clubs and staves and swords and torches, and they saw

  249. the religious Elite with them, they were afraid.

  250. And they fled. And so, Jesus said, all of you

  251. will be made to stumble because of me all of you will fall into

  252. that trap. You're going to leave me, you're

  253. going to defect, that's what you're going to do, and it's

  254. going to be out of fear now. Admittedly identifying, what

  255. Jesus can be difficult. It is, I'm not standing before

  256. you and I'm not going to tell you a message, and I hope you're

  257. not getting this from what I'm saying.

  258. I am not saying it is easy to stand for what's, right?

  259. I'm not saying that at all. I'm not saying that it's easy to

  260. stand for what the Lord wants us to stand for and defend the Lord

  261. and defend the truth. I'm not saying that either.

  262. What I'm saying is, even if it's difficult in our life, it's

  263. still our choice that we must make.

  264. That's what Moses did. Remember that Hebrews chapter

    Hebrews 11 chapter mention

  265. 11, Moses chose the reproach of Christ rather than the sins of

  266. the world. Now not everybody makes that

  267. choice on every occasion. In fact, there are those who

  268. flee when the pressures on and they run for safety because

  269. they're afraid and again, that's what cowardice is.

  270. It is the acting upon fear. Now, Proverbs said, if you don't

  271. want to act on fear, you've got to trust in the Lord.

  272. If you trust in the Lord you're going to be safe and you won't

  273. be afraid and if you're afraid you're going to fall into the

  274. Trap chicken out, I'll tell you something.

  275. I was raised. I was raised berries.

  276. Specific about. Courage.

  277. My father wouldn't let us even get discouraged.

  278. And by the way, I'm not saying, right?

  279. Wrong or indifferent, my dad would just basically say this to

  280. me. And I'm glad that he did, I

  281. don't know, everybody's personalities different but with

  282. me, it really worked. If I started to get discouraged

  283. about something you don't, my dad would say, Is that all you

  284. are? Is that it seriously, is that

  285. all you got? Then he would say, some, let me

  286. tell you that the, the mark of a man, is the problem.

  287. It takes to discourage him. Are you, is that all you got,

  288. you know, it would do and make me mad?

  289. I fight back. My point is this.

  290. There is never a case to quit. And there's never a

  291. justification for quitting because of fear.

  292. There's never justification for that on the flip side though.

  293. So we see the cowardice of the disciples why they were

  294. entrapped by the snare fear. And then they demonstrated it

  295. with cowardice and denial. What's the flip side?

  296. Look at Jesus. Jesus, the greatest woman that

  297. ever lived, he's praying In The Garden of Gethsemane.

  298. He praised three times. He said, father, if it be

  299. possible, let this cup pass from me.

  300. And do you remember about a month or two ago is very

  301. important, get this police about a month or two ago.

  302. I talked about when Jesus was when he was in The Garden of

  303. Gethsemane. And the Bible says, his soul was

  304. exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, and all of that, okay?

  305. And I said this, it cannot be that the interpretation of that

  306. Is that all he didn't want was or all he was worried about was

  307. the pain of the Cross. That's too easy.

  308. There were many Martyrs that we can read about in foxes book of

  309. Martyrs, that were Martyrs for the cause of Christ and stood

  310. there firm. And those men were not greater

  311. than Jesus, not at all. Those men were not more create

  312. courageous than Jesus. So what are we talking about

  313. when Jesus prayed to his father? Let this cup pass from me.

  314. What's the cup? It was not only suffering which

  315. is included in that but it's not exclusive to that.

  316. It's talking about the shame is talking about God's wrath upon

  317. sin. And that's what Hebrews 12 and 2

  318. is talking about when it says looking unto Jesus, the author

  319. and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before

  320. him, endured the cross despising, the shame and is set

  321. down at the right hand of the Throne of God.

  322. It was the shame. It was the fact that he was

  323. perfect and sinless and yet the sins of the world will be placed

  324. on him. It was the shame.

  325. It was the fact that God's face would be turned and he would

  326. have to do it alone. He was completely courageous.

  327. And the contrast that Matthew shows is not only the cowardice

  328. of the disciples but also the curate, the courage of Jesus

  329. also, there's a third element that we see and that's a

  330. contrast between power and weakness.

  331. The disciples were afraid to face the moment because they

  332. were weak and they couldn't handle death, and that's really

  333. scared them, but Jesus wasn't afraid at all.

  334. In fact, in verse 32. Notice what Jesus says, you

  335. know, why? Because Jesus understood the

  336. power, He said all this is going to happen, but after I have been

  337. raised, I will go before you into Galilee now.

  338. The Lord face death with tremendous courage because he

  339. knew that he had the power over death.

  340. How many times did Jesus say? No man lays down his life or

  341. another words? No one takes my life.

  342. I lay it down. He said I had the power to lay

  343. it down and I got the power to raise it up.

  344. So we see the disciples over here.

  345. But over here, we see Jesus and we see the difference between

  346. power and weakness. Jesus told them, I must go and

  347. be crucified and three days later, I'll rise from the dead,

  348. he had committed himself to the power of God into the divine

  349. power over death. In fact, Jesus came to conquer

  350. death. The disciple should have known

  351. that. You never just a few short days

  352. before and John Chapter 11, Remember that Jesus is going to

    John 11 chapter mention

  353. go and raised Lazarus from the dead.

  354. And he says this to Martha and John chapter 11 beginning in

    John 11 chapter mention

  355. verse 25. Listen, Jesus said to her, I am

  356. the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though.

  357. He though he may die. He shall live and whoever lives

  358. and Believes In Me. Shall never die.

  359. Do you believe this? They should have known that but

  360. they were afraid. They were cowards and they

  361. didn't have strengthen the faith of God, Like Jesus did.

  362. But you see this lesson is very important to us because we can

  363. say that we all have strength to face anything.

  364. But we ourselves are weak and that's not all bad.

  365. Did you just get that? I just said, were weak.

  366. Did you hear me? And I said, and that's not bad.

  367. I'm going to tell you right now, the older you get, the more you

  368. come to realize that you are weak.

  369. And that's not bad. What's the lesson here?

  370. It is until we learn the lesson of weakness, we cannot possibly

  371. understand strength. We got to learn to stop trusting

  372. in our own strength. Peter was very foolish.

  373. He was very prideful. In fact, his pride is Manifest

  374. in three ways. Listen to this, it's manifest in

  375. three ways. And if this isn't Pride, I don't

  376. know what it is. Jesus said this before, the

  377. rooster crows you will deny me three times.

  378. The First Act of pride, is this Peter contradicted, Jesus, Jesus

  379. said, before the cock crows of the rooster crows, you will deny

  380. me three times. You know what Peter said?

  381. Nope, I won't do it. Not me.

  382. I won't do it. He contradicted, the Lord, you

  383. know, what else he did? He did what sometimes we do.

  384. Please don't do this. Please don't do this.

  385. Peter acted, like he was better than everybody else.

  386. And it was specific to a specific thing that he's talking

  387. about. Peter says, even if all are made

  388. to stumble because of you I will never be made to stumble.

  389. Look at the pride. First of all, he contradicts the

  390. Lord. Now he says, you know what, I'm

  391. better than everybody else. Do you know when we do that?

  392. I'll tell you. When we do that, what we do when

  393. we do that is when somebody Falls and we say man that could

  394. never happen to me if you believe old so-and-so.

  395. I'm going to tell you something. It can happen to you.

  396. It can happen to you. And who am I talking to?

  397. I'm talking to you. I'm talking to everyone

  398. individually. Oh, yes, it can Peter.

  399. So arrogant, Peter, so prideful. Even if everybody falls, even if

  400. everybody's caught in the Trap, I won't be not me.

  401. But you know what else he did? He trusted in his own strength.

  402. And he said this, even if I have to die with you, I will not

  403. deny. You, look at this.

  404. Now you see the problem? Look.

  405. Here it is. Aye, aye.

  406. Aye. There was Lord was nowhere to be

  407. found in that. No I won't.

  408. I won't do it. I'll stay in there with you.

  409. I Relying on his own strength. Oh, and by the way, by the way,

  410. the other disciples kicked in they said, yeah that's too.

  411. Yeah, see that sews. It all the disciples.

  412. Now, Jesus said this in verse 34, assuredly, I say to you that

  413. this night before, the rooster crows, you will deny me three

  414. times. When is that When is rooster

  415. crow time? Well the Jews divided the night

  416. into 4 into 4 sections or into four parts.

  417. This is the night to a Jewish person.

  418. Okay, here they are and we find that from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. that

  419. was called the evening time. What else from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

  420. that was actually called midnight?

  421. Or it was described as the middle of the Night.

  422. You know what happened from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. that was the

  423. section of time in the wee hours of the morning that was called.

  424. Yes, it was rooster crow time. I read some Scholars on that.

  425. You know why? Because about three am using,

  426. not beyond that, that's when the rooster crowed.

  427. What Jesus is saying and they're somewhere by the way.

  428. They are somewhere in here at the time that Jesus said these

  429. words. And what he's saying is he

  430. saying Peter before, rooster crow time before 3, a.m. you're

  431. going to deny me three times. That's what that means.

  432. And by the way the morning is 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. that's tonight

  433. that's the four parts of a night.

  434. Oh the Lord was brilliant. He was brilliant.

  435. He sang in a few hours even before rooster crows two times,

  436. you're an already deny me on three cases.

  437. Before it even gets to 3 a.m. You know, when he did that.

  438. I want you to picture in your mind.

  439. I want you to picture kind of what Peter did.

  440. He denies denies, he denies. One time even with cursing and

  441. swearing, I know not the man, right?

  442. We know that. Okay.

  443. I like what it said in another gospel account, what happens?

  444. We find that he went out and wept bitterly.

  445. When he heard the rooster crow, and after he had denied the

  446. Lord, the third time, the Bible says he remembered the words of

  447. Jesus, and he went out and wept bitterly.

  448. That's one gospel account, but there's more It says, also in

  449. The Gospel According to Luke, that after Peter denied Jesus,

  450. the rooster crowed, and the Lord looked on Peter.

  451. You don't have thought of what I thought of this.

  452. The Lord looked on Peter. And I don't mean this like the

  453. Lord was saying it in a ha ha ha.

  454. I was right way. But in a very, very, very, very,

  455. very sad way. I don't know how far Jesus was

  456. away from the place where Paul or Peter was denying Jesus.

  457. I don't know when the rooster crow.

  458. Don't know how far I was away from Jesus but at some point in

  459. time at some point in time, there are at least close enough

  460. and proximity that the Lord can look on Peter and the Lord knew

  461. exactly what Peter did. And Peter knew the Lord was

  462. looking. I kind of thought of it like

  463. this, look at this, he looks over.

  464. Told you. I told you.

  465. Not with hahaha. But With sadness.

  466. I told you. I told you.

  467. All right. Is that How It Ends?

  468. Nope, got some good stuff going to happen.

  469. Now in the last part of our lesson, thankfully doesn't end

  470. here. In fact, we go back to verse 32,

  471. notice here. But after I have been raised, I

  472. will go before you into Galilee. You know what he's saying?

  473. He's saying, in the midst of all of this, I'll be I'll be back.

  474. And by the way, when it says, I will go before you into Galilee.

  475. That means this, he's saying I will lead you.

  476. In other words, the Shepherd that God is going to strike one

  477. time as prophetically, it was stated that he would Once right?

  478. Bear the sins of the world that same Shepherd is going to rise

  479. from the dead and a Shepherd leads his sheep and he's going

  480. to lead those disciples into Galilee.

  481. How about that? The courage of Jesus.

  482. I'm going to collect you on the lead to you.

  483. What happened. On that Hillside.

  484. He restored them. Yeah, he did. in John chapter

    John 21 chapter mention

  485. 21, it record specifically that it restored Peter Peter denied,

  486. the Lord three times. And you know what?

  487. He says he doesn't call him Peter.

  488. He calls him Simon. You know, there's a mouthful in

  489. that and there's probably a whole sermon in that showing

  490. where Peter was in John chapter 21, you know.

    John 21 chapter mention

  491. He says Simon son of Jonah, lovest thou me more than these

  492. He said, you know that I love thee.

  493. And Jesus says feed my Lambs. Second time he said, Simon, son

  494. of Jonah. Do you love me?

  495. He said, you know that, I love you.

  496. Feed my sheep a third time. Still not calling him Peter.

  497. He said, Simon, do you love me? And as I paraphrase Peter says,

  498. Lord, you know that I love you. He was troubled by the fact that

  499. the Lord kept asking him this question.

  500. He said, you know that I love you.

  501. He said feed my sheep, Jesus restored, Peter and Jesus

  502. restored. The rest after they learned this

  503. lesson, and you know what happened?

  504. He got Peter back on board, he got the others, a back on board.

  505. He ascended into heaven and Acts chapter one, he sent the Holy

  506. Spirit and do you know what happened?

  507. Beginning there and X2. The Bible says, in the book of

  508. Acts that the apostles literally turn the world upside down with

  509. She okay? Did they learn their lesson

  510. though? Back here?

  511. When they chickened out because they were trying to focus on

  512. their own strength? I think they learned their

  513. lesson. Here's how I know.

  514. They learned their lesson. Now we're going from right here

  515. where they're all going to check it out right.

  516. They're going to run out of fear caught in the Trap.

  517. Everything's different. Now, Acts chapter 5, And they

    Acts 5 chapter mention

  518. agreed with him and when they had called the apostles and

  519. beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the

  520. name of Jesus and let them go. So they departed from the

  521. presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted

  522. worthy to suffer, shame for his name and daily in the temple.

  523. And in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching

  524. Jesus as the Christ. You see the point.

  525. They learned a very powerful lesson about their own weakness

  526. and that's true. Strength only comes from the

  527. Lord we say that again. True strength only comes from

  528. the Lord. We have to learn that too.

  529. To truly understand strength, we have to understand weakness.

  530. And then we understand what Paul meant I'm going to put an

  531. amazing passage of scripture on the screen.

  532. Okay, this is Paul and it's dealing with Paul after.

  533. He was given a thorn in the flesh.

  534. A messenger of Satan, as he said to Buffett me, right?

  535. He prays to God. Could you just take it away?

  536. Notice what happens? And he said to me, my grace is

  537. sufficient for you. My strength is made.

  538. Perfect. In weakness.

  539. I'm going to tell you, I don't know how many times I've heard.

  540. Somebody quote fat, as if Paul was saying about himself.

  541. His strength is made. Perfect in weakness.

  542. Nope, that's not Paul. That's Jesus.

  543. That's the Lord. Look, he prays to the Lord, let

  544. it let it be taken from me. He said, no, my grace is

  545. sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in

  546. weakness. Okay, that's what it says.

  547. What's it mean? What's it mean?

  548. It means this. The Lord's power to help is

  549. called out by the weakness of man.

  550. One scholar said man's extremity or the extreme things that he

  551. goes through. Is the Lord's opportunity?

  552. And true strength can only come from the Lord.

  553. And when I understand that in my life, then I can say what Paul

  554. said in Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through

    Philippians 4:13

  555. Christ. Who strengthens me?

  556. Don't you see? If you're strong enough on your

  557. own, what do you need the Lord for?

  558. But if you submit yourself and humble yourself to the Lord and

  559. say, I've got absolutely nothing, I'm weak, guess what

  560. happens? The Lord shows up.

  561. With strength, our strength never his strength.

  562. It's made perfect or complete. In what my weakness?

  563. That's pretty good stuff in. Don't ever forget.

  564. You have never heard me say this.

  565. Don't ever forget this, but you have never heard me say this.

  566. And maybe I have you haven't heard me?

  567. Say, because maybe I've never said it before.

  568. But something came to me, as I wrote The Sermon this week, you

  569. know what it is. We are all broken.

  570. And you might sit there. Go not me.

  571. Yeah, I'm telling you. Yeah, you, yeah.

  572. You Yeah, we're all broken. And when we think we're not

  573. broken, it is the height of our ignorance and arrogance.

  574. And did you know that it's not only are we Broken?

  575. Not only are we weak, but it's also a command that we must be

  576. in. Matthew Chapter, 5 on the

  577. Beatitudes. Remember, the first one.

  578. Blessed are those that are poor in spirit, the word.

  579. Poor means destitute. You know, that means that means

  580. I am destitute without Jesus. I am destitute spiritually

  581. without the Lord, I am nothing. Out God.

  582. And guess what happens when you got some trials in your life and

  583. you got some hard stuff going on?

  584. Guess what? If you submit to that, if you

  585. humble yourself and realize, I'm nothing without the Lord, I am

  586. weak, without the Lord. I am broken without the Lord,

  587. then guess what? Here comes the Lord.

  588. And we get his strength. In closing, I want to put the

  589. rest of this passage up in second, Corinthians going to

  590. read the passage. And when we finished He

  591. continues. Now, this is Paul's language.

  592. Okay, at first is talking about Jesus, my grace is sufficient

  593. for you for my strength, is made perfect in weakness, that's the

  594. Lord. Now, here comes Paul.

  595. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities.

  596. That the power of Christ, May rest upon me.

  597. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in

  598. needs in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake.

  599. For, when I am I'm weak then. I am strong.

  600. When you're weak, the Lord shows up.

  601. And he makes all the difference in the world.

  602. If you have ever endured something as a child of God and

  603. you think you did it by your own strength?

  604. No, it wasn't you. We do our best, but folks it's

  605. the Lord. Through the hardest times of our

  606. life. It's the Lord carrying us

  607. through, he carries us. You can't understand strength

  608. until you understand how weak you are.

  609. And you can't understand how weak yard to.

  610. You are able to say, I am broken.

  611. And I need the room. We thank you for listening to

  612. our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.

  613. Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional

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